Neurosciences Commons^™

Can Self-Efficacy Training Improve Memory And Functional Activation In Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment? A Proof-Of-Concept Intervention Study, Brainscan, Western University, Lindsay Nagamatsu, Derek Mitchell, Paul Minda, Amer Burhan, Becky Horst

Project Summaries

The goal of this study is to examine the changes in brain activity after a memory self-efficacy training program to better understand the mechanisms of memory self-efficacy. We will conduct a proof-of-concept six-week memory self-efficacy intervention in older adults with MCI, in order to demonstrate that self-efficacy impacts brain function. This will allow us to determine whether self-efficacy interventions may be a potential strategy for combating AD in the future.

Developing A Mechanistic Understanding Of Crossmodal Reorganization Following Sensory Loss, Brainscan, Western University, Blake E. Butler, Brian Allman, Ravi Menon

Project Summaries

Our long-term goal is to understand how plasticity reshapes circuits in the brain in response to atypical early experiences. This will allow us to better understand how the Deaf brain processes the world around us, and will make clear the challenges that must be overcome to optimize the function of cochlear implants and prostheses designed to restore sensory functions more broadly.

The Risk Of New-Onset Epilepsy And Refractory Epilepsy In Older Adult Stroke Survivors, Jorge G. Burneo, Tresah C. Antaya, Britney N. Allen, Andrea Belisle, Salimah Z. Shariff, Gustavo Saposnik

Neuroepidemiology Research Unit Project Summaries

Research Summary: Key Findings

• Stroke is a common cause of epilepsy in older adults, but little is known about stroke-related epilepsy or its outcomes in this population.
• 1.1% of older adult stroke survivors developed epilepsy in this study, of whom 12.9% developed refractory epilepsy, indicating that this population is particularly responsive to treatment.
• Over 85% of deaths in this population are not due to stroke or epilepsy.

White Matter Hyperintensities In Vascular Contributions To Cognitive Impairment And Dementia (Vcid): Knowledge Gaps And Opportunities, Jessica Alber, Suvarna Alladi, Hee-Joon Bae, David A. Barton, Laurel A. Beckett, Joanne M. Bell, Sara E. Berman, Geert Jan Biessels, Sandra E. Black, Isabelle Bos, Gene L. Bowman, Emanuele Brai, Adam M. Brickman, Brandy L. Callahan, Roderick A. Corriveau, Silvia Fossati, Rebecca F. Gottesman, Deborah R. Gustafson, Vladimir Hachinski, Kathleen M. Hayden, Alex M. Helman, Timothy M. Hughes, Jeremy D. Isaacs, Angela L. Jefferson, Sterling C. Johnson, Alifiya Kapasi, Silke Kern, Jay C. Kwon, Juraj Kukolja, Athene Lee, Brittani R. Price, Donna M. Wilcock

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) are frequently seen on brain magnetic resonance imaging scans of older people. Usually interpreted clinically as a surrogate for cerebral small vessel disease, WMHs are associated with increased likelihood of cognitive impairment and dementia (including Alzheimer's disease [AD]). WMHs are also seen in cognitively healthy people. In this collaboration of academic, clinical, and pharmaceutical industry perspectives, we identify outstanding questions about WMHs and their relation to cognition, dementia, and AD. What molecular and cellular changes underlie WMHs? What are the neuropathological correlates of WMHs? To what extent are demyelination and inflammation present? Is it helpful to …

Irreversible Chorea As The Initial Presentation Of Polycythemia Rubra Vera In An Elderly Woman, Shakya Bhattacharjee

Neurosciences

No abstract provided.

A Synthetic Agonist To Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide Receptor-2 Induces Regulatory T Cell Neuroprotective Activities In Models Of Parkinson's Disease, R. Lee Mosley, Yaman Lu, Katherine E. Olson, Jatin Machhi, Wenhui Yan, Krista L. Namminga, Jenell R. Smith, Scott J. Shandler, Howard Gendelman

Journal Articles: Pharmacology & Experimental Neuroscience

A paradigm shift has emerged in Parkinson's disease (PD) highlighting the prominent role of CD4⁺ Tregs in pathogenesis and treatment. Bench to bedside research, conducted by others and our own laboratories, advanced a neuroprotective role for Tregs making pharmacologic transformation of immediate need. Herein, a vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor-2 (VIPR2) peptide agonist, LBT-3627, was developed as a neuroprotectant for PD-associated dopaminergic neurodegeneration. Employing both 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) and α-synuclein (α-Syn) overexpression models in rats, the sequential administration of LBT-3627 increased Treg activity without altering cell numbers both in naïve animals and during progressive nigrostriatal degeneration. LBT-3627 administration was linked to …

A Systems Thinking Approach For Eliciting Mental Models From Visual Boundary Objects In Hydropolitical Contexts: A Case Study From The Pilcomayo River Basin, Riveraine S. Walters, Erin S. Kenzie, Alexander E. Metzger, William Jesse Baltutis, Kakali B. Chakrabarti, Shana Lee Hirsch, Bethany Laursen

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

Transboundary collaborations related to international freshwater are critical for ensuring equitable, efficient, and sustainable shared access to our planet’s most fundamental resources. Visual artifacts, such as knowledge maps, functioning as boundary objects, are used in hydropolitical contexts to convey understandings and facilitate discussion across scales about challenges and opportunities from multiple perspectives. Such focal points for discussion are valuable in creating shared, socially negotiated priorities and integrating diverse and often disparate cultural perspectives that naturally exist in the context of international transboundary water resources. Visual boundary objects can also represent the collective mental models of the actor countries and transboundary …

A Quantitative Assessment Of Empathy After An Art Prime With Counseling Students, Annette Lisa Coletta

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Empathy skills are necessary to form therapeutic relationships. Previous research showed that participating in the arts engaged similar neuropathways as those needed to produce empathy. The theoretical framework for this study was art therapy relational neuroscience. The purpose of this pretest, posttest quantitative research study, using the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire, was to examine if a single art session could effectively prime for empathy. Using nonprobability, convenience sampling method, 74 graduate counseling students completed online surveys. Four findings are of note: (a) a t-test showed a significant difference between mean values of pre-post test scores, (b) an independent groups t-test indicated …

Comparative Effectiveness Of Dimethyl Fumarate Versus Fingolimod And Teriflunomide Among Ms Patients Switching From First-Generation Platform Therapies In The Us., Daniel Ontaneda, Jacqueline Nicholas, Matthew Carraro, Jia Zhou, Qiang Hou, Jaanai Babb, Katherine Riester, Jason P Mendoza, Terrie Livingston, Mehul Jhaveri

Neuroscience Articles

BACKGROUND: Previous real-world comparative research of MS disease modifying therapies (DMTs) in the overall population has suggested dimethyl fumarate (DMF) to be comparable to fingolimod (FTY) and more efficacious than teriflunomide (TERI) in reducing relapses. However, there is limited comparative evidence in patients switching from platform DMTs in the US. The objective of the study was to compare the annualized relapse rate (ARR) and risk of relapse in MS patients who have switched from a platform therapy to DMF, FTY, or TERI.

METHODS: MS patients (18-65 years old) initiating an oral DMT from June 2013 to March 2015 were identified …

Prefrontal-Accumbens Opioid Plasticity: Implications For Relapse And Dependence, Matthew C. Hearing

Biomedical Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

In addiction, an individual’s ability to inhibit drug seeking and drug taking is thought to reflect a pathological strengthening of drug-seeking behaviors or impairments in the capacity to control maladaptive behavior. These processes are not mutually exclusive and reflect drug-induced modifications within prefrontal cortical and nucleus accumbens circuits, however unlike psychostimulants such as cocaine, far less is known about the temporal, anatomical, and cellular dynamics of these changes. We discuss what is known regarding opioid-induced adaptations in intrinsic membrane physiology and pre-/postsynaptic neurotransmission in principle pyramidal and medium spiny neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens from electrophysiological …

Reward And Punishment: The Neural Correlates Of Reinforcement Feedback During Motor Learning, Christopher Mark Hill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

‘By the carrot or the stick’ reward or punishment has been contemplated by instructors to motivate their pupils to learn a new motor skill. The reinforcements of reward and punishment have demonstrated dissociable effects on motor learning with punishment enhancing the learning rate and reward increasing retention of the motor task. However it is still unclear how the brain processes reward and punishment during motor learning. This study sought to investigate the role of reinforcement feedback in cortical neural activity associated with motor learning. A novel visuomotor rotation task was employed with reward punishment or null feedback as the participants …

How To Balance Intuitive And Analytical Functions Of Brain: A Neutrosophic Way Of Scientific Discovery Process, Florentin Smarandache, Victor Christianto, Robert Neil Boyd

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

Initially this article stems from our discussion on math and mysticism, inspired by an article by Ralph Abraham. But it becomes a discussion on the role of intuition and inspiration in scientific discovery process. Hopefully this article will help anyone who aspires to be good scientists or engineers.

Neuroprotective Strategies Following Experimental Traumatic Brain Injury: Lipid Peroxidation-Derived Aldehyde Scavenging And Inhibition Of Mitochondrial Permeability Transition, Jacqueline Renee Kulbe

Theses and Dissertations--Neuroscience

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) represents a significant health crisis. To date there are no FDA-approved pharmacotherapies available to prevent the neurologic deficits caused by TBI. Following TBI, dysfunctional mitochondria generate reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, initiating lipid peroxidation (LP) and the formation of LP-derived neurotoxic aldehydes, which bind mitochondrial proteins, exacerbating dysfunction and opening of the mitochondrial permeability pore (mPTP), resulting in extrusion of mitochondrial sequestered calcium into the cytosol, and initiating a downstream cascade of calpain activation, spectrin degradation, neurodegeneration and neurologic impairment.

As central mediators of the TBI secondary injury cascade, mitochondria and LP-derived neurotoxic aldehydes make promising …

Autologous Peripheral Nerve Grafts To The Brain For The Treatment Of Parkinson's Disease, Andrew Welleford

Theses and Dissertations--Neuroscience

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a disorder of the nervous system that causes problems with movement (motor symptoms) as well as other problems such as mood disorders, cognitive changes, sleep disorders, constipation, pain, and other non-motor symptoms. The severity of PD symptoms worsens over time as the disease progresses, and while there are treatments for the motor and some non-motor symptoms there is no known cure for PD. Thus there is a high demand for therapies to slow the progressive neurodegeneration observed in PD. Two clinical trials at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine (NCT02369003, NCT01833364) are currently underway that …

Pathological Tau As A Cause, And Consequence, Of Cellular Dysfunction, Shelby Meier

Theses and Dissertations--Physiology

Tauopathies are a group of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by the abnormal deposition of the protein tau, a microtubule stabilizing protein. Under normal physiological conditions tau is a highly soluble protein that is not prone to aggregation. In disease states alterations to tau lead to enhanced fibril formation and aggregation, eventually forming neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). The exact cause for NFT deposition is unknown, but increased post-translational modifications and mutations to the tau gene can increase tangle formation.

Tauopathic brains are stuck in a detrimental cycle, with cellular dysfunction contributing to the development of tau pathology and the development of tau pathology …

Preclinical Targeting Of Trem2 For The Treatment Of Alzheimer's Disease-Type Pathology In A Transgenic Mouse Model, Brittani Rae Price

Theses and Dissertations--Physiology

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is defined as a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and is characterized by a devastating mental decline. There are three pathological hallmarks of the disease necessary for its diagnosis, these are extracellular amyloid plaques comprised of the beta-amyloid (Aβ) protein, intracellular neurofibrillary tangles comprised of hyperphosphorylated tau protein, and marked neuronal loss. Active immunization against Aβ_1-42 or passive immunization with monoclonal anti-Aβ antibodies has been shown to reduce amyloid deposition and improve cognition in transgenic mouse models of AD, aged beagles, and nonhuman primates. Unfortunately, due to cerebrovascular adverse events, both active and passive immunization strategies targeting Aβ …

The Impact Of Post Translational Modification On The Aggregation Of The Ss-Amyloid Peptide In The Presence Or Absence Of Lipids, Albert Walton Pilkington Iv

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative condition afflicting 5.7 million Americans with no effective treatments. The pathology of AD is described by the formation of neurotoxic oligomers formed by the self-assembly of amyloid-β (Aβ). The affinity of oligomers for cellular membranes disrupts calcium homeostasis and is believed to be the underlying cause of neurotoxicity; however, due to the metastability of oligomers, it has been difficult to understand their role in membrane interactions and self-assembly. Here we utilize post translational modifications (PTM) to understand the role of specific amino acids on Aβ₄₀-membrane interactions and self-assembly. We employ ThT, AFM, …

Mice, Acorns, And Lyme Disease: A Case Study To Teach The Ecology Of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Laurieann Klockow

Biomedical Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Ebola, Zika, the recall of contaminated lettuce - these are just a few recent outbreaks making headlines. Students should be able to connect what they learn in their biology courses to explain these events happening around them. Unfortunately, students do not necessarily make those connections. Therefore, it is important, as instructors, to provide opportunities where students engage with societal issues and problems related to course content and case studies, using headlines from the news are one way to do this.

Here I describe a case study about Lyme disease that engages students in learning about the ecology of infectious disease. …

Development Of More Light Sensitive And Red-Shifted Channelrhodopsin Variants For Optogenetic Vision Restoration, Tushar Harishkumar Ganjawala

Wayne State University Dissertations

Discovery of channelrhodopsin (ChR), a light sensitive protein from green algae, has revolutionized the field of neuroscience research by empowering scientist to control neuron through the light, the technology popularly known as optogenetics. The ChR based optogenetics is one of the promising approaches for treating blindness caused by photoreceptor degenerative diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Fundamentally, the approach is about imparting light sensitivity to surviving inner retinal cells by ectopic expression of genetically encoded light sensitive proteins, such as ChR2. Although the concept of optogenetic approach has been proved by using ChR2, a major …

Stress-Dependent Regulation Of A Major Node Of The Insulin-Like Peptide Network That Modulates Survival, Rashmi Chandra

Wayne State University Dissertations

Chronic stress disrupts insulin signaling, predisposing human populations to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, and other metabolic and neurological disorders, including post-traumatic disorders (PTSD). Thus, efficient recovery from stress optimizes survival. However, stress recovery in humans is difficult to study, but is much easier to dissect in model organisms. The worm genetic model Caenorhabditis elegans can switch between stressed and non-stressed states, and this switch is largely regulated by insulin signaling. Previously, the Alcedo lab proposed that insulin-like peptides (ILPs), which exist as multiple members of a protein family in both C. elegans and humans, implements a combinatorial coding strategy …